My Dear Shepherds,
Church names have changed since I was a kid. It used to be that “First Church” or “Calvary Church” worked fine but now congregations have all kinds of code names. However, I’ve yet to see any called “Shaky Church” even though quite a few pastors have served there.
When Paul wrote what we know as Second Corinthians, that church was on shaky ground because of the lingering effects of the sin they’d tolerated and the subsequent trauma of church discipline. What’s more, some of the Corinthians questioned Paul’s apostolic authority and doubted that he even cared about them. First Shaky Church of Corinth.
While he had some stern words for them, Paul was certainly not defensive. Instead, he lovingly found common ground on two great certainties. First was that his ministry was simply to shout out the Amen to every promise of God made ‘Yes’ through Jesus Christ. Surely, they could all agree on that! Pastors are still amen-ing.
Second, he reminded them of what God has done for all of us whose faith is in Christ:
Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. (2 Cor. 1:21–22)
There were probably some in Corinth who ultimately didn’t stand firm, but for all who held their ground, whether apostle or new believer, it was only because God made it happen through his Spirit. When someone trusts in Christ, God doesn’t merely smile approvingly. He acts. He literally inserts himself.
God, who establishes us in his Anointed One, anoints us also. Try to imagine kneeling before the Lord as he pours warm, fragrant oil over your head, the proof of his delight and honor running down your cheeks and neck as you are initiated into his royal priesthood. His crown of glory waits for you when your shepherding here is complete. When God’s people “dwell together in unity,” it’s like that anointing (Ps. 133). Next Sunday, when you look out over your people, remember that.
But more! He “set his seal of ownership on us.” You and I, along with the saints we serve, are marked for joyful bondage, for glad captivity. Our Master Jesus gave himself for us, washes our feet, answers our prayers, helps usin times of need, and at the great feast will dress himself to wait on us! So when we must bear with difficult brothers and sisters or care for those whose burdens are terribly heavy, remember that we are marked as God’s own, graven on his hand.
And finally, we and our fellow believers are all “given his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee” (ESV). Scripture’s promises and pictures of glory sometimes seem so, so far away. God does not insist that we try harder to imagine them. Rather, he tells us that the Holy Spirit working within us is our surety. Has the Spirit convinced us that we are indeed saved? Have we sensed God’s near and loving presence? Have we received the Spirit’s power to love, pray, or suffer? Have we exercised gifts only God could give? Those experiences of the Spirit are God’s down payment, his guarantee that we are surely citizens of his everlasting kingdom.
We’ve all probably pastored Shaky Church at some point, but we also serve the Church of the Surefooted. Paul concluded,
Not that we lord it over your faith, but we work with you for your joy, because it is by faith you stand firm. (v.24)
Be ye glad!
